Soul of the Soldier
by Dii10star
Summary: Two boys were seperated at birth. Each had a path to become a great warrior. When evil teams up with one another, two heroes from two diffrent worlds must also. NOT accepting OC's although it says it... idk how to change it...
1. Chapter 1

Soul of the Soldier

Prologue:

"_I can't go through with this!" Ishin Kurosaki yelled, banging his fist against his desk._

"_We have to! For the boy's sake…" His lover, Mimi Strife said. Ishin's eyes became filled with tears as he picked up his newborn son, Ichigo. _

"_Promise me… you'll be safe…" He looked away, trying to hide the tears from his love. She pulled him to her and landed a big kiss. Ishin stepped toward the door. He glanced back at his lover and their four year old son, Cloud. He then took off into the night._

"_Mommy, where's daddy and Ichigo going?" Cloud asked._

"_To a place much better than this one…" She said as she fell to the floor and burst into tears._

_Ishin ran as fast as he could, dodging the Shinra Police as they tried to grab him and his son. They finally had him cornered in an alley._

"_So we have a man trying to escape with a newborn…" One of the men said._

"_Aren't we supposed to take out all of the newborn babies?" Another smiled as he said it._

"_Hand him over." The first walked toward him. _

"_No!" Ishin jumped and kicked the soldier in the jaw. He round house kicked the second. More and more police arrived to the scene. He was greatly outnumbered._

"_Come here!" he heard a voice. "Look up!" He saw a beautiful lady with beautiful brown hair. He grabbed her hand and was teleported to another world and in the middle of a big city called Japan._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

"We're here!" Barrett yelled as their train came to a stop. His crew jumped off and beat up the two guards.

"Can't get my hands dirty yet…" Cloud said. He jumped off the train and the saw the buff figure of Barrett in front of him.

"C'mon newcomer. Follow me." Barrett took off running ahead of the group.

"_They are so inexperienced…"_ Cloud thought. He ran and took the two potions off of the first guard's belt. As he ran to the next one, two guards came around the corner. The first shot at him with a machine gun, but he put his massive sword in the way. The other ran and punched him. _"Pathetic"_ He barely felt the hit. He ran and cut the first with his sword, an instant kill. The second tried to punch him again, but he stuck out his sword and killed him quickly, then took their money. He continued on to the next section and saw his group standing at a door. The outgoing Biggs looked at him in awe.

"Wow! You used to be in SOLDIER, huh? …Not everyday ya find one in a group like AVALANCHE." He said.

"SOLDIER? Aren't they the enemy?" Jessie said, looking at Cloud suspiciously. "What's he doing with us in AVALANCHE?"

"He WAS in SOLDIER," Biggs corrected. "But he quit and is now with us. I didn't catch your name…."

"…Cloud." Was all he said, getting annoyed with the situation.

"Cloud eh? I'm…"

"Look I don't care what your names are." Once this jobs over… I'm outta here." This apparently hurt Biggs, for he looked down in shame. The leader of the group, Barrett, came running towards them. He looked angry.

"The Hell you all doin? I thought I told ya'll never travel in a group! Our targets the North Mako Reactor. We'll meet on the bridge in front of it." It was then that Jessie opened the door and everyone proceeded through. Barrett stopped at the door and turned around. "Ex-SOLDIER, ay? Don't trust ya." He then headed through the door. As Cloud entered everyone was running around like they were lost.

"_Man, these people are pathetic!"_He said as he ran to the exit on the other end, which they soon followed. They saw a few guards on the bridge that they were on, but they were weak just like every other one. As they approached the next section, Barrett started talking about how important the Mako reactor was. "Look, I didn't come here for a lecture. Let's just do what we gotta do."

This obviously angered Barrett. "Alright!" he yelled. "You're coming with me from now on!"Cloud shrugged his shoulders.

The panel in front of Biggs glew. "Code Deciphered." He said. The door opened and Jessie went to the next one.

"Code deciphered." She said as she broke the code. They ran through the door, but Cloud took a right, grabbing the Phoenix down that some rookie must have dropped. He then followed the group into an elevator. "Push that button." Jessie said trying to avoid eye contact with Cloud. He did as told and the elevator went down.

"Little by little the reactor will drain the life of the planet and that'll be that." Barrett said.

"Not my problem" Cloud shrugged and said.

"The Planet's dying Cloud!" Barrett yelled. Cloud looked away.

"The only thing I care about is finishing this job before the security and Roboguards come." Barrett strained to keep himself from putting his machine gun hand into clouds face and unloosing his unlimited amount of bullets. The rest of the ride was silent. When the elevator stopped, the trio seemed relieved to get away from one another. They ran down a lot of stairs, killing the weak Roboguards and throwing the human guards over the edge. They got to a room full of pipes and ladders. They jumped over a pipe then onto a ladder going down. Cloud grabbed a potion off the floor and jumped on another ladder. A big machine came as if out of nowhere, but one thunder attack and he was a pile of bolts. The duo ran down some more pipes and climbed down another ladder. They ran down a hall, and found a restore material on the ground. They approached a wheel on the wall.

"When we blow this place, ain't gonna be nothing more than a hunka junk." Barrett said smiling. "Set the bomb, Cloud."

"Shouldn't you do it?" Cloud asked, annoyed.

"You do it! I gotta watch and make sure you don't try nothing funny."

"Fine I'll do it." Cloud said. As he stepped closer he felt a strong pain. Everything got fuzzy. "Watch out, this isn't just a reactor!" He heard someone say."

"What's wrong?" Barrett asked.

"Huh?" Cloud said, coming out of his daze.

"Hurry up!" Barrett yelled.

"Yea…" Cloud said. He set the bomb, and then an alarm went off. A giant machine fell from the sky. It let out a ray of light and scanned the intruders. It started attacking in a variety of ways, striking with its tail, claws, and a blast. Barrett kept his distance, shooting at it, looking for a weak point. Cloud kept running trying to stun him for a thunder attack. When Cloud hit it right in its back, it raised its tail. Barrett rushed in shooting, thinking this was an opening. "Stop Cloud yelled, but it was too late. The Robot launched a huge powerful wave that hit Barrett head on. Barrett stood up, "I'm ok… "He said. It lowered its tail. "He doesn't only look like a scorpion, he has their characteristics. Raised tail means bad news."

Barrett was now frustrated. "AARGGH!" He ran into the scorpion, shooting and dodging its numerous attacks. He ran under it shooting its belly and then jumped on his back. He shot its tail until it fell apart. He then used hooked the rifle connected to the tail to himself and put it on its back and fired, blowing out the wires of the robot. It fell in defeat.

Cloud noted not to get Barrett mad again. "Let's get outta here," he said as they ran toward the exit.

"Ten minutes til detonation" The bomb said. They took off as fast as they could. They ran from every enemy, dodging anything that would slow their time. They climbed the first ladder, then the second. Cloud stop as he heard screaming. Turned and saw Jessie's leg stuck in a pipe. He ran to help. "Are you ok?" He asked.

"Yea, just a little stuck." He pulled her out. "Thanks!" She jumped over him cleanly, and ran for the exit. Cloud and Barrett followed. They made it on the elevator.

"Think we're getting out?" Cloud asked.

"I know I'm getting out!" Barrett yelled, praying that the elevator didn't get stuck. Jessie and Biggs deciphered the door codes and ran out.

"Thirty seconds remaining" the building said. The group ran as fast as they could. Wedge opened the door and they bolted to it. Biggs almost fell over, butt Cloud caught him.

"Save yourself!" he yelled.

"Naw." Cloud pulled him over and fell on his backside. Biggs ran out leaving Cloud behind, just as the building exploded. "Aww crap!" Cloud yelled as he saw the flames consume him then everything got quiet.

Cloud woke up in darkness. He wasn't sure if the lights were out or if he was dead. His eyes adjusted, and he noticed that he was alive. He felt himself, making sure he had every limb. All of his equipment was intact. He was definitely alive, but no longer at the Mako Reactor. He was behind a building, and could hear some people arguing behind him. He gripped his sword and peeped around the corner.

"You're the great Rukia Kuchiki aren't you?" A tall man with long red hair and a thin sword on his back stared at a small lady. The man wore a long black robe and sandals with socks. The girl didn't look scared at all. The man was pointing at her and she didn't even flinch. "Gaping like some worthless human. What the hell is the matter with you?" Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, flower petals fell from everywhere. Cloud didn't know if this was normal, but it was weird to him. "Right, Captain Kuchiki?" The red haired man said. Suddenly, as if out of the flowers, a tall man with long bluish hair appeared. He wore the same attire as the other man. His eyes showed no emotion, so Cloud made sure to never forget that face. The girl finally showed fear, looking terrified of the man.

"Byakuya, it's you!" Rukia said.

"Rukia…" he said back. Behind Rukia, the red haired man raised his blade.

"Look out!" Cloud yelled it in time for her to dodge a fatal blow. She got a cut on her face.

"First you disgrace yourself by giving away your powers to a human, and now your saved by one?" The red haired man said. "Show yourself, human!" Cloud walked out, with his massive blade on his shoulder. He gripped it with both hands in a battle pose. "Kido."He suddenly was frozen in place and fell to the ground, blade sliding across the ground and getting smashed by Byakuya, causing Cloud to flinch. "Massive blade. Also very fragile. Anyways, you committed a great sin, giving your powers to a human. You should be glad we're handling this, and not the execution squad. Now, tell us where this human is Rukia." She stayed silent and struggled to stand up. "It's over. Where taking you in, and finding the human who stole your powers," His voice got real serious. "And kill him! Don't try to protect him. The only reason you dodged my attack is because I let you. The next move I make with this blade will be fatal." He advanced on Rukia, but she kept moving backwards. Cloud kept struggling to stand and protect her, but the invisible chains were powerful. Byakuya looked at him with those lazy eyes… Cloud wanted to knock them out of his head. The red haired man sliced at Rukia but she jumped out the way. He then tried to get her in the air but she dodged it, and stumbled into the road. She regained her balance and jumped back to her feet, but fell down again holding her arm. Cloud struggled to break loose, using all of his power and he finally stood up, to be kicked back down by Byakuya.

"Stay in your place, boy." He said.

"Dammit!" Cloud felt the familiar surge of the limit burst inside him. It wasn't full yet, but wasn't far neither.

Suddenly, a blue wave flew past the red haired man's face. He barely dodged it. A Man with blue hair and glasses came walking behind it. "Two armed men attacking an unarmed lady." He said. I have to tell you, it's not a pretty sight. "I don't know, just isn't my style, know what I mean?" He stopped a few yards away.

The red haired man smiled. "That's two men that can see us." So tell me, who the hell are you?"

The man chuckled and straightened his glasses. "Just a classmate." He said. "One who hates soul reapers."

"Uryu…" Rukia said. "What are you doing here?"

"I had an urge to go to the store and get some arts and craft supplies. I mean, it's not like I happened to sense some soul reapers whom I hate and wish dead and brought some supplies from home just to make it more believable so that I can run into you and kill them…" he said in an innocent voice.

"_That's the worst lie I ever heard…" _Rukia thought.

"But I understand if your skeptical…" he said, then his bag was cut open, dropping the supplies.

"I asked you a question!" The red haired man yelled. "I said, who the hell are ya, kid?" Uryu stayed silent. :That's fine, you don't have to answer f you don't want to

hate . We can skip to the part where I kill you. Rukia stepped In front of Uryu.

"Wait a minute Renji! He's got nothing to do with this!" she yelled.

"I told you I'm a classmate of Rukia, and I hate soul reapers." Uryu said.

"I don't like your answer, so try again." Renji said. Uryu lowered his head and said his name. "Uryu Ishida, and it's a pleasure."

"What's with you all of a sudden" Renji asked.

"I just thought you had a right to know." Uryu fixed his glasses. "You may be a soul reaper, but you should know the name of the one that's about to kill you."

Renji smiled the most evil smile ever. That settles it. I'm going to cut you in half!" he said.

"We'll see about that!" Uryu sent a blue wave, which was knocked aside by Renji. Renji then ran towards him and jumped high. Uryu smiled and shot a blast straight toward Renji. Renji moved to fast for normal eyes and appeared in front of Uryu. He hit him in the gut with the tip of his blade, knocking the wind out of him and laying him on his back. He turned onto his stomach on the ground, trembling with pain.

"Well well! You were all talk…" Renji said. Uryu coughed as blood flowed from his wound. Renji raised his blade. "Remember this as you depart from this world!" Cloud stood up and strains to walk toward Renji.

"Stop!" he yelled. Renji smiles and holds his sword out for him to run into. A wave appears in between the two. They both jump back. An orange haired figure appeared. Cloud felt a wave of nostalgia as he looked at the figure. The boy's hair was almost the same as Clouds, just a different color. His Blade was large, not as big as Cloud's but big.

"Who the hell are you?" Renji demanded.

"The name is Ichigo. And I'm the one that's gonna beat your ass. How's it goin?" Ichigo said calmly.

"What squad are you from?" Renji asked. "And look at that overgrown Zanpakto!" he chuckled.

"So you say I have a big one, eh?" Ichigo asked. "I thought it looked big compared to Rukia's blade, but now I have something to compare it to."

"It's supposed to reflect a Reaper's spirit energy, so how did a punk like you get a big blade like that..?" He looked at Rukia and noticed her staring at the boy. "So he's the kid with your power…" Renji jumped towards Ichigo and their blades collided.

Cloud watched in awe as the two men battled. He felt more helpless than ever in his life. Then Renji kicked Ichigo back. "You can't beat me with that pathetic blade. Call on its name. Make this fight interesting."

Ichigo looked at Renji and smiled. "So you name your sword? You really need a life, huh?"

Renji gritted his teeth, and then smiled. "You'll never win with an attitude like that. He slid his hand up his sword. "Zabimaru!" his sword grew scale like pieces and turned flexible. He threw it at Ichigo and it ripped into his shoulder. "Don't ever think about beating me. Not ever…" he pulled the blade all the way through, it ripped through numerous muscles and tendons. Ichigo sat with his eyes open in disbelief, his pain was great and he was surprised that he had to admit defeat.

Cloud was struggling with his invisible chains the entire fight. Byakuya looked at him in interest. He looked powerful enough to pop the Kido. As Cloud struggled, Renji walked up to Ichigo. "Now to get Rukia her power back…" he walked to Ichigo and raised his sword. Rukia gritted her teeth and looked away, a tear drop in her eye. Cloud struggled and stood up.

"HAA!" He broke the Kido and ran over to Renji, and landed a punch in his face.

"OOF!" Renji fell back a few yards. Cloud threw two of his potions at Ichigo.

"I probably can't win without my sword, but you can." Ichigo hungrily drunk the potion and quickly felt his power regaining. He poured the other on his shoulder and although it hurt, he felt the pain goin away. He stood up.

"This is even better…" Renji said. "I wouldn't want to kill an immobile target."

Ichigo stood up. "Thanks." Suddenly his spirit energy started to rise.

"_His spirit energy is increasing. Impossible!"_ Renji thought as he recoiled from the blast. Ichigo then ran at him real fast and before Renji could move, his shoulder was split. Ichigo landed behind Renji and looked at him in digust. He then ran back at him and sliced upward, knocking Renji upward. Renji grabbed on a railing and stopped himself from falling. He looked at Ichigo in a slight bit of fear. His headband cracked off of his face. _"What wrong with this kid? He was just ready to die and now he's super strong…"_

"I'll tell you the problem. Your moves have suddenly gotten a lot slower!" Ichigo said.

"You've gotten faster…" Renji said.

"I don't know what's happening to me but I like it! I feel no pain from my wounds, in fact I feel invincible!" He was smiling the entire time. Renji swung his sword at Ichigo, but Ichigo lazily moved out the way. He tried again and Ichigo hit it back at him. Ichigo battled at him and knocked him to the ground. Renji fell to one knee and realized he couldn't move. "Told you I was gonna kill you." Ichigo jumped, sword raised into the air. As he brought it down on Renji, he felt like he missed, which was impossible because Renji never moved. He then noticed his Zanpakto was broken. Everyone stared in disbelief. They looked at Byakuya, and he had the sword piece in his hand. "Impossible!" Ichigo said. "You didn't move!" Byakuya touched the hilt of his sword. Ichigo and Cloud prepared for an attack. Suddenly, Ichigo felt and immense pain. Byakuya was standing behind Ichigo. He started falling.

"You're even slow when you fall…" Byakuya said.

"Brother don't do it!" Rukia yelled. Ichigo suddenly felt another wave of pain as he finally hit the ground and blood flowed everywhere.

"Ichigo!" Rukia ran to his side.

"Don't! Renji ran to intercept her.

"Leave the lady alone!" Cloud ran at him, and raised his fist and attacked. Renji felt a strong wave of spiritual pressure just for a second just as strong as Ichigo's, and he shook a little but flew back hard as the punch landed. He slowly sat up, pain immense in his body. "It doesn't matter… He's dead anyway…" He stammered out.

Rukia ran to Ichigo's side.

"He does bear a striking resemblance to him, doesn't he?" Byakuya asked. Suddenly, he felt a tug on his robe bottom. He looked down to see Ichigo grabbing him.

"He's dead you say? Bears a striking resemblance to him? Stop talking about me like im not here, got it?" Ichigo said with a twisted smile on his face.

"Let go…" Byakuya said in an obvious angry growl.

"Sorry I couldn't hear you. Look at me when you talk to me" Ichigo said.

"I see. Looks like you won't be needing that arm." Byakuya said. Suddenly Rukia ran over and kicked Ichigo's hand off of her brother.

"Rukia, what are you doing?" Ichigo asked.

"You are just a human." She said with disgust in her tone. "How dare you grab my brother like that? You better learn your place!"She looked away from Ichigo. "We should leave now brother. The actions he just made opened my eyes to the truth. I am ready; take me back to the soul society. I'm ready to atone for my sins."

"You can't!" Ichigo yelled. "Our work isn't finished. Rukia…"

"Let her go…" they all looked at Cloud. "It would be better that way. Just do the smart thing…" He looked away.

"I see no need to inflict a final blow on him now." Rukia continued. "Leave him to die; he'll suffer more that way."

"Wait, Rukia! Is this some kinda joke? Look at me!" he tried to stand up.

"Don't move!" he froze. His heart was crushed as she spoke to him. "Take one step to me and I'll… never forgive you..." she looked at him with tears in her eyes. "You're going to die, so why not stay put to live a little longer…"

"I shall not land the finishing blow" Byakuya said. "Even if he survives this, he'll be empty of spirit energy. Renji, let's go."  
Renji stood up and followed his master. As he walked by Cloud, they locked eyes and it seemed as if fire came out of them. Renji stood in the front of the group and put his sword in the air and made it glow. He pushed it in front of him, and some of it disappeared. He turned it like a key. "Now open!" a door opened, and they all entered one by one. Rukia looked back at Ichigo as the door closed.

"Hold still." Cloud jumped over to Ichigo and knelt close to him with his palms glowing. "Restore!" was all Ichigo heard as he fainted into darkness…


	3. Chapter 3

Sector 7 Slums: 7th Heaven

"Damn… Dead on his first day!" Barrett said under his breath. He looked at his current team members. They all looked beat from their last mission. Jesse had a sprained ankle. Biggs was bleeding from his head, a blow received from a falling pipe. Wedge was limping, his leg looked to be in bad shape. The only person in the room that looked healthy was Tifa, considering she didn't fight. She was extremely angry, however.

"How could you let him die?" she asked Barrett in anger. "I told you one simple thing, bring him back alive! He was my friend, Barrett! He just came back to town, and you go off and kill him? What were you thinking?"

"Well…" Barrett finally said. "I was thinking that First Class Soldiers were tougher-"

"Don't get sarcastic with me dammit!" She punched the wall beside him, shattering it instantly. The impact startled everyone, making them flinch.

"Daddy, are you ok?" Marlene yelled from upstairs. Barrett opened his mouth, but was cut off.

"He's fine!" Tifa yelled in a cooing voice. She then looked back at Barrett, with the same fire in her eye from before. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed them back. She did this a couple of times, as tears formed in her eyes. "I'm leaving…" she said silently under her breath. She turned and stood on the pinball machine elevator. As she rose, everyone in the room spirits dropped.

"…..What do we do?" Wedge whispered.

"I… I guess we let her go…" Jessie said. Barrett silently sat. Hundreds of thoughts rushed through his mind. He slowly stood up.

" I'll be back. Ya'll just stay here and rest, ya hear?" he said as his bulky figure slowly walked to the elevator.

Tifa was fueled with rage. She grabbed what she thought she would need, a change of clothes, some potions, and a few materia, fire, ice, and restore. She was walking and walking, with no destination. So many thoughts ran through her mind, she was angry. She finally stopped walking, and fell down and cried. She cried for the first time in years, since the day Cloud saved her from the mountains. She cried even more as she thought about Cloud. She let the tears flow for seconds, then minutes, then hours.

When she was finally done,she stood up and wiped the tears away. "_This isn't gonna get me anywhere_" she thought to herself. It was then that she noticed that she wasn't in the slums that she recognized anymore. She was standing near a church. It smelled beautiful, not trashy like everywhere she was used to.

"I wonder if anyone's in there…" Tifa mumbled as she walked toward the door. It was then that she heard two voices. She stood near the door and slowly pushed it open a little to eaves drop.

"Come with me, Ancient." A voice said. "I'll protect your life!"

"I can't leave the flowers!" A female voice replied. "And besides, I can carry myself!"

Tifa opened the door a little more and peeked inside. There stood a figure with an orange spiral mask. He wore a long black cloak with red flowers on them. He was speaking to a woman with flowing brown hair, a red dress and a pink ribbon. She was picking flowers out of a garden in the middle of the church. The man had one eye showing, but the pupil was red with black spirals.

"I'm trying to do this the nice way, Aeris. Don't make me angry.." Tifa felt a change in the air. For some reason, it felt like the man was gaining power.

The lady kept smiling as she picked her flowers. "I'm not going anywhere, Mr. Scary Mask. You may leave now."

His one eye glared at the lady. He raised his hand and muttered something under his breath.

"Fire!" Tifa sent a small barrage of fire at the masked man. Aeris looked up in shock. The man let out a small yell and looked at Tifa. _"What did I just do?" _she asked herself. Her body moved on its own. When she looked into the mans eye, her body froze. "W-what is this?" she asked. The man slowly walked toward Tifa.

"Stop!" Aeris yelled. She ran to tackle him, and was shocked as she fell through him. "W-what are you?" she asked in fear.

He stood in front of Tifa. He looked Into here eye and raised his hand, revealing a shuriken. "Your life is worthless. You die here." He said slowly.

"Haaaa!" The man was caught off guard and hit with a barrage of bullets. Barrett ran to Tifa's side. She fell and started shivering. "Who the Hell is that?" He yelled.

"I-I don't know…" Tifa said, still scared from the man's eye. "Don't look him in the eye…" She said.

"No problem, I'll shoot it out." Barrett smiled and held up his gun. The man stood up and looked at Barrett.

"You too are worthless…" he said.

"I'll show you worthless!" Barrett let out hundreds of bullets rapidly. They each just went through him. He kept walking towards Barrett. Barrett looked scared, something he haven't felt in a while. He touched his gun arm and it exploded. He then grabbed Barrett and threw him effortlessly. Before Barrett could land, the man grabbed him mid air and slammed him into the ground. "ARRGH!" Barrett crawled away slowly, covered in blood.

"BARRETT!" Tifa shrieked. She struggled to stand up and walked towards them. The man made a few hand signals.

"I'll go." Aeris said. The three looked at her.

"Good." He stopped and started walking towards Aeris. She closed her eyes and started praying. Tifa looked in horror.

"Lets go. The mans eye started sucking in Aeris. Tifa found a new strength and ran towards them. He tackled Aeris and pushed her out the way. She felt her body pulling apart and being sucked in. "N-no! What are you doing?" the man asked. He glared at Tifa, and she glared back. "I'm going to kill you…" he said.

"I'm prepared for it…" she said as she disappeared.

"Tifa!" Barrett yelled as they disappeared from his sight. He tried to stand up, but had a coughing fit.

"Don't push yourself!" Aeris said as she ran over to him. "Cure!"

"Is this the girl?" Tifa heard a voice ask.

"No, this vile woman got in the way!"

Tifa opened her eyes and saw to people standing over her. One was the masked figure. The other was really thin, with two red eyes. He looked like he was tired, or sick. They both looked at her, like she was a kitten, something that couldn't harm them.

"Where am I?" Tifa asked the two.

"You… put a hole in my plans…" The man said. He stepped toward her.

"No." The other man stopped him. "She has a lot of potential. We can use her, make her strong."

"I am strong!" Tifa yelled, fighting back tears. She didn't like feeling cornered and helpless. She jumped up and help up her fists. "I'll beat both of you right now!"

"Do you sense a strong power in her?" The masked man asked. "Do you see something that I cannot?"

"No, it's mainly intuition. I believe she can become valuable in the future…"

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here!" Tifa punched the skinny man in his jaw. His eyes got wide, he wasn't expecting it. He looked Tifa in the eye.

Tifa gasped. His eyes just spun! They literally changed shape! Everything around her then turned dark.

"_Live your nightmare…"_ She heard the skinny man say. She heard fire near her in the darkness. She spun around and saw a village burning.

"Oh no!" She ran towards the town. She felt a wave of nostalgia as she approached it. It was then that she saw it. The image that haunted her for many years. Sephiroth's sword sticking out of her father. "NOOO!" Tifa yelled as she fell to the ground in tears.

"Itachi…" The masked man said. "I don't have the time nor the patience to deal with this girl. The Ancient is my target, not her. The gap in space only opens twice a year!"

"Then let me train her. I want to put her up against my kid brother. Prove his weakness to himself."

The masked man looked angry. He walked off and started disappearing. "She's weak, Itachi…" he said as he vanished.

"We'll see… Madara…" He looked at the sleeping figure. She was beautiful, he had to admit. Her slim figure had the perfect amount of slim muscle on it. "Starting tomorrow, your going to see real power…" He burst into a flock of crows and they flew out of the cave.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3: The Awakening

Ichigo slowly opened his eyes. His chest felt heavy. As his vision returned, he noticed it was the big, buff body of Tessai. Ichigo let out a blood curdling scream.

"He's up, Mr. Urahara!" Tessai calls out.

"Get off of me you freak!" Ichigo yelled pushing him off. He then sat up. He scanned his body, and is surprised to see only slight scars. "What the hell?" Ichigo said. "I thought I was hurt much worse than this!"

"Yea, you should think Blondie over here." Mr. Urahara walked in the room, with Cloud following behind. Cloud leant back on the wall and folded his arms, inspecting this orange headed kid.

"Who the hell are you?" Ichigo asked.

"Cloud. Ex First Class Soldier." Cloud replied lazily.

"So… you in the military or something?" Ichigo asked with his head cocked sideways.

"I said ex." Cloud said, closing his eye's in annoyance. His voice raised slightly as he said ex.

"Soldier or not, keep using that tone and I'm gonna kick your ass!" Ichigo barked.

"Was I dreaming, or were u just screaming like a female a few seconds ago?" Cloud calmly asked.

"Why you…!" Ichigo jumped out of the bed in record time, but was quickly pushed back by Mr. Urahara. Cloud smirked at the kid, amused. He quickly turned towards him. "What the hell, Hat and Clogs?" he yelled furiously.

"He's with us." He said. "And if you didn't notice, you would've been burnt to cinders in seconds." Ichigo looked at Cloud, and saw that his hands had a slight orange glow to them.

"What the hell are you…?" Ichigo asked, mainly himself. "Hey! Where's Uryu?"

"He's ok. I treated him at the sight. He lost much blood, but was strong enough to walk home. He was worried about you, too."

"No way…" Ichigo said, astonished.

"Yeah. He said that he couldn't defeat those guys. The only one capable of it, is you." He looked over at Cloud. _"However, I'm not so sure about that…"_

"How can I do it?" Ichigo asked, raising his voice. She's back in the Soul Society, how can I save her?"

" I can get you there." Ichigo's eyes sprung open. "And by the way, if you do decide to save her, we have thirty days to do it. If we don't get to her, they'll execute her." Ichigo's eye's popped open at this. "But… you have to promise me one thing…."

"Anything!" Ichigo stood up and yelled.

"You must train with me for the next ten days. This isn't normal training, however. It's so hard that a Navy S.E.A.L. would quit. Are you up to it?" Ichigo looked at Mr. Urahara with fire in his eye's.

"Are you kidding me? Rukia is going to die because I wasn't strong enough to save her. We don't have time to train!" Mr. Urahara pushed Ichigo to the ground with his cane. Cloud looked at the door, noticing a black, eerie cat sitting there… almost as if it were listening to the conversation.

"U honestly think you can win?" He asked. "I let you fight them to show you strength of soul reapers. You nearly died out there. Without proper training, you'll be walking to your own funeral. And besides, It's a thirty day wait until they execute their criminals. Ten day's to train, seven to open the gate, and thirteen to save her. Are you game?"

Ichigo stared at him hard from the ground. He slowly stood up. His facial expression was as hard as steel itself. "I'll train my ass off until I can kill her brother and that red headed freak!" Ichigo shook with anger. Cloud glanced at him. This kid reminded him of himself in so many ways. Well, except the fact that he was a loud mouth

"Ichigo, you go home tonight. Training starts tomorrow, right after school. You got it?"

"Alright Mr. Hat and clogs, sounds like a plan." Ichigo walked towards the door. He and Cloud stared at each other for a few long seconds. There was so much tension between them that sparks could've flew. Ichigo smirked at him and proceeded to walk out the door. "Thanks for the healing…" he said as the door closed behind him. Cloud stood up and started walking into a different room.

"And you." Mr. Urahara looked at Cloud. "You tell me all about your world. I want details about everything, from your plants, to your powers."

"And if I refuse?" Cloud replied.

"Well, it's all up to you. I can't force you to speak. But honestly, tell me. When you watched Ichigo's power… didn't you want a taste of it? Wasn't that more amazing then anything you've ever experienced?" Cloud trembled. He honestly did . He wanted some of that power. He wanted to pull a blade out of the air. It seemed magical… almost as if he'd be close to becoming like… "But… if you aren't interested…" He turned to walk away.

"Wait." Cloud said, attempting to mask his eagerness. "I'll tell you a few things. When do I get these powers?"

"Tomorrow. We'll train you and Ichigo simultaneously. You would have to help us save Rukia. That's a request, of course." The man grabbed a chair with his cane and pulled it towards him. He sat down in it backwards. "Now… start talking."

Cloud, Ichigo, Mr. Urahara, Tessai, and two kids were in a colossal basement with a desert look under Mr. Urahara's house.

"No way! This is amazing! Who would've thought-"

"Cut the crap, you knew this place was here." Ichigo said nonchalantly. He looked at Cloud. "What the hell's he doing here?"

"The same as you. Training."

"Humph." Cloud stood in a white t-shirt with the sleeves cut off. He wore a pair of jogging pants, all given to him by Mr. Urahara.

"Are you guy's ready?" he asked the two boys.

"Let's get this over with." Cloud responded. Mr. Urahara smirked at this.

"I hadda feeling you'd say that. He pulled back his cane and hit Cloud in the head with the base of it. Cloud rolled backwards hard. He landed finally in the dirt. He jumped up.

"What's your problem!" He asked. He then realized that he was staring at himself. He fell to one knee, gasping for breath. He grabbed his chest, and realized it was a chain attached to it.

"Now, Ichigo…" Mr. Urahara had a crazed expression on his face. He smirked at Ichigo.

"Wait wait wait I'm not ready yet give me a minute-" Ichigo was sent tumbling backwards. He stood up. "I said I wasn't-" His eyes shot open as he struggled to breathe.

"Not easy to breathe as a soul, is it?" He asked the two. "Right now your soul sleep. Your soul is no different from a human, Ichigo," he said. "You two have totally different objectives. Cloud." He looked towards the blond man that was struggling to breath. "You must simply catch this cat." The same black cat that Cloud was eyeing the night before jumped from behind Mr. Urahara.

"That's… not… difficult…" Cloud huffed out.

"Show me, better than you can tell me." Mr. Urahara said." And you, my fine man Ichigo. Your objective is…Facing this strong warrior!" Ichigo looked around.

"The hell are you talking about. It's only me, you, the old weird guy, and Blondie."

The girl stood up. "I'll be your opponent Ichigo."

"What? I can't fight her!" Ichigo exclaimed.

"It's a fight, until one of you can't move anymore. I'll advise winning it in one punch."

"Please put on this protection gear Ichigo. I don't want to kill you."

"I'm not fighting her." Ichigo said. He suddenly felt a strong surge of power. He looked at her and saw that she was coming at him quickly. He flew back as her fist collided with his face, knocking him back.

"Whoa… Cloud said. He looked toward the cat. "Looks like I got it easy…"

"You think so?" The cat said. Cloud froze up.

"Did… you just speak…?" he asked.

"…No." the cat responded. It then took off running.

"Get back here!" Cloud sprinted after the cat. The cat was fast and agile. It would jump over boulders, and get him tangled up in his chain.

"This is impossible!" Cloud thought aloud. "I can't even keep up with her…" The cat looked back at him and stuck out it's tongue. It then took off. "Oh no you don't!" Cloud felt a burst of speed coming on as he took off after her.

The one time that he almost caught it, it twirled around and cut him on his nose viciously, giggling. "That does it!" Cloud yelled. "Ice!" he shot ice onto the ground in front of the cat.

"Meow!" The cat skidded on the ice, trying to keep her balance.

"Fire!" Cloud melted the ice, leaving the cat sitting in a muddy pool.

"No way!" the cat tried to jump as Cloud approached her. She slipped face first into the mud, and was scooped up by Cloud. "I win!" He yelled at Mr. Urahara.

"Good." he said to Cloud. Now proceed watching this idiot."

Cloud looked towards Ichigo. Ichigo was strapped in a headgear and some protection over his knuckles. He was running from the girl with fear in his eyes. He suddenly turned around. "Idiot…" Cloud thought. The girl swung at him, but he nimbly avoided the attack. He then got on the offensive, swinging at her. When he was close to touching her, she jumped on his arm and cocked her leg back. She then kicked forward with full power and knocked Ichigo into a wall. Tessai ran and caught him, before he could hit it.

"Give me one more chance!" Ichigo yelled.

"Congratulations you two… you passed!" Mr. Urahara said.

"Wh… what?" Ichigo said confused. Cloud realized he was still holding the cat, and quickly dropped her, granting him a hiss as it ran away.

"But… This was simple…" Cloud replied.

"You, Mr. Strife, were only to catch the cat. There was a reason for that, however. She's the fastest being on earth, currently. No human can catch her. Yet, you did. Not by speed either, by thinking. I see leadership in you sir." Cloud folded his arms and looked away.

"But I just got my ass kicked!" Ichigo exclaimed.

"I never told you to win. Ururu can beat a full fledged Soul Reaper. A human couldn't take a tap from her. You actually landed a punch. Spirit Energy increases when your in danger of being destroyed. We needed to bring yours out. That guy over there, he reek's of it." Ichigo looked at Cloud and gulped. Cloud looked back with his shining eyes. "I'm sure you two realized that breathing's easier as well. Well, time for your next lesson." Tessai flew at Ichigo with an ax and cut his chain. The orange haired kid did the same to Cloud.

"Am I… dieing?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes, you actually are. When the chains are cut, you can no longer return to your human body. That's not even the worst part. When the chain reaches your chest, you become a hollow."

"What's… a hollow?" Cloud asked.

"Nothing too bad… Just a soulless creature that doesn't cross over into the Soul Society. If you happen to become one… I won't hesitate to kill you." Both men's eyes were wide at that remark.

"How do we make it stop?" Ichigo asked.

"There's only one way… becoming a Soul Reaper."

"How… can I become something… if I don't know what it is?" Cloud said.

"Trust me. You only have two options. Hope you choose the right one." Tessai walked over too Cloud and picked him up. He then jumped on Ichigo's back. "Go!" Urahara yelled. The ground under Ichigo then opened.

"AAH!" he and Cloud yelled simultaneously. It was a long fall, at least thirty seconds. When they hit the bottom, both Ichigo and Cloud had their hand tied behind their backs.

"What is this?" Cloud demanded.

"Bakuda. 99 part one restrict." He said proudly. "Until you finish, your arms must stay bound."

"You guys must climb out of the hole!" Urahara yelled out.

"How with my arms behind my back?" Ichigo yelled back.

"Find a way. You have 72 hours. Or else." The two men looked at their chains. The chains had little mouths eating away at themselves.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" The boys screamed together.

Sorry for the long drought. I honestly gave up on this story, but a fan commented on it today, and I wrote it on the spot. I hope yall like it!


	5. Chapter 5

SN: I don't own this or any characters!

Sector 7 Slums: 7th Heaven

Barrett drunk down his umpteenth bottle of liquor. His friends were scared that he would overdose. He drunk and drunk day in and day out. He barely played with Marlene, the bar looked like trash, and he looked even worse. He didn't care much about the blonde guy, it was Tifa that had him stressing. And now this Aerith lady was stuck with him. Who was she anyway, and what did the masked guy want with her?

"Daddy, I drew you a picture!" Marlene said.

"Mmm okbmn…" Barret grumbled out. Marlene looked sad as she walked back towards Biggs and Wedge.

"It didn't work…" she said. "I miss auntie Tifa too…" Tears welled in her eyes. Jessie walked over and picked her up as she ccried.

"So since him and Tifa are unable too, whose the next in charge?" Wedge asked. "Can I do it?" he asked excitedly.

"No." Biggs replied. It's Jessie. She is the strongest out of us three." Jessie blushed at this comment.

"Ok. First order of business, we need materia. Without it, we'll get our butts kicked. Wedge, here's 2500 Gil. This time don't spend it on snacks."

"But it was Red Chocoburger patties…" he whined.

"Biggs. You go stock up on items and equipment. Without Barrett, we're going to need all of the little things."

"Roger!" Biggs replied.

"We meet back here in an hour. We then will head to Reactor 5. Understood?" Jessie said.

"Understood!" The two henchman exclaimed as they left to do as told. Jessie walked to Marlene. "You watch over Daddy and make sure he's ok. Ok?"

"Yes Miss Jess!" she giggled out. Jessie then exited the building. "If I need something, I'll wake up Miss Aerith!" she called behind her.

Itachi's Hideout

Tifa slowly sat up. Her entire body ached. The nightmare that she lived for the past few days was Hell. She couldn't take another second of it. She cried and tried to fight Sephiroth off every time, but would always lose. She had to get stronger. She just had to put a stop to Sephiroth's evil ways. She looked around the room she was in. It was plain, the walls looked as if they were rock. It was really dark as well, lit by only a little fire on the wall. Tifa stood up, but regretted it instantly as pain jolted up her entire frame. She held her footing and limped toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Tifa froze up. She turned and saw the man with the eyes. The spinning red eyes looking at her.

"I was coming to finish you off." She limped towards him and lifted her arm to swing a punch.

"Sit down. You're weak." He pushed her into a nearby chair.

"No… I am not…" she struggled out.

"You're full of hatred. You hold so much against this one man… so much hatred that it's destroying you. You want to get powerful to defeat him. You must get stronger. I can help you unleash your power. Your true power." He held a hand out to her. "It's all up to you."

"Will I be able to kill that masked guy as well?" she asked. The man closed his eyes and smiled.

"Truth be told, probably not. I doubt that I can beat him. His power is… unreal. Unparallel to anything I have ever witnessed."

Tifa looked down in disbelief. "Then one day I'll be more powerful than you." she responded. The man flinched for a second. He then smiled.

"From this point on you are my pupil. We will train vigorously for days straight with little breaks. This type of training will make the Devil cry, but the power will allow you to fight him evenly matched. Are you prepared?" he asked.

"Of course I am." she said with fire in her eyes. "I'll become however powerful it takes to beat them. I wanna protect everyone!"

Itachi liked her noble attitude. He stood up and walked off. "We start tomorrow. You better pray that you're healthy." his body started turning into a flock of crows, starting at his feet.

"Wait!" she yelled weakly. "What's your name?"

"….Itachi…" was all that he said as his face faded away.

A/N: Watsup! This is you're author speaking. I know this isn't what you all were waiting for, but this is how it has to be. After every big long chapter or two of Ichi and Cloud, we're going to see watsup with the other two worlds. It's not going to be too long…. Most of the time. My mind always wanders, so I'm just doing it like that. If u don't like it, sue me. (please don't. college is enough!)


	6. Chapter 6

Ichigo and Cloud looked down in horror and pain as their chains continued to chomp on itself.

"Damn it!" Ichigo yelled. "How the hell are we supposed to get out of this?"

"I… I'm not sure.." Cloud strained out, holding back the urge to scream. Here he was in an out of whack world, and was already being eaten by a chain… A chain coming out of his belly at that! He couldn't wait until it was over.

"Hey, are ya hungry?" The red haired kid yelled down to the men.

"We're souls, how the hell would we get hungry?" Ichigo yelled back, pissed off.

"That's good." Mr. Urahara yelled back. "If you become hungry, then that means that you're becoming a Hollow."

Cloud felt a pit in his stomach. He didn't know what a Hollow was, or even a Soul Reaper for that matter, but he was sure that he didn't want to become a Hollow. He watched as Ichigo stood up.

"I don't know about you Blondie, but I'm not staying in here," Ichigo said. Cloud realized that their chains were no longer biting, but it seemed like they were sleeping. Cloud watched in fascination as Ichigo tried running up the nearly vertical hole. After three steps, he comically fell on his head. Cloud let out a small snicker. "The hell are you laughing at?" Ichigo yelled at him. Cloud looked at him lazily.

"Don't be rash." he said. "It's basically impossible to get out of here, unless we could fly like…" Clouds voice trailed away. He saw the long silvery hair flow through his mind. His body felt tense just from thinking of that man… The one man that created destruction for as long as he known him.

"Whatever." Ichigo replied. He looked towards the opening of the hole. "I'm getting out of here!" He tried vaulting up the wall again, but fell once more. After attempting this numerous times, he finally just laid there, breathing heavily.

Cloud looked at the kid. He admired his effort, but pitied his stupidity. He should just save his energy and think. Cloud sat and thought of all possible ways to exit, but with his hands behind his back, those options were close to none. He looked toward the man they called Tessai. He sat there, still holding up this barrier on their hands. Cloud figured that the only way to escape was to beat him. He stood up and faced the man.

"Don't try anything foolish." Tessai responded calmly. Cloud lowered his body and charged at the man. He kicked and kicked, but only kept getting blocked. He feinted a low kick, then kicked upwards, hitting the man between the nose. "Urgh!" the man stumbled. Ichigo looked at Cloud and smiled, deciding to join in. Tessai wiped blood from his nose and stood up with fire in his eyes. "If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you get!" Tessai got in his fighting stance.

"You are one stupid guy," Ichigo told Cloud, while he smirked evilly. "You know we have no chance of beating him in this condition."

"I'm not trying to beat him," Cloud responded. "Are you ready?" he asked Ichigo.

Ichigo smiled wildly. "Beyond ready!" They simultaneously charged at the man. Tessai punched Cloud in his face, knocking him into the wall. Ichigo jumped and tried to kick him twice in the air, but was blocked and grabbed by the ankle. Tessai swung him like a lasso and slammed him down.

"Mr. Urahara! Mr. Urahara!" The red haired kid yelled. "They're fighting Tessai!"

"No way…" Mr. Urahara ran over to the hole and peered down. There he saw Tessai ruthlessly beating the two men. They had no chance, but he admired their heart.

Cloud stood up slowly and stumbled backwards, leaning back to back with Ichigo. Ichigo spit out blood. Tessai pushed his glasses up his nose. "You two should take a seat. Things will only get uglier from here, so it's no need to jeopardize your lives.

"Screw you…" Ichigo said. He ran toward Tessai, but stumbled. "Aaargh!" he yelled. Cloud fell forward as well, writhing in pain.

"Hmm… the chains must be eating at them." he took his seat once more. "Serves them right."

The boys suddenly jumped up. "Fire!" They yelled simultaneously. Tessai looked at them in shock. He jumped in time to dodge one of the fires, but got hit with the other one. He let the Coda loose off the boys.

"Alright!" Ichigo said. He rubbed his wrists and arms.

"Let's move!" as soon as the hold was released he took off toward the entrance. He swiftly ran up, Ichigo was a few steps behind him. Cloud reached the top, free from the hole. He turned and held out his hand for Ichigo. Ichigo reached out, the recoiled in pain, falling backwards. "Ichigo!" Cloud yelled as he watched the kid fall.

"Bakuduo 99!" Tessai yelled as he chained Ichigo back up. Ichigo yelled in pain as his chains all started eating themselves.

"He's becoming a Hollow!" The red haired kid yelled.

"Whoa…" Cloud said as he saw Ichigo's chains fully devour themselves. He was in a state of disbelief, since he wa seconds away form that happening to him as well.

"AHHHHHHHH" Ichigo yelled as saliva flew from his mouth. Something white began to form around his face as he howled.

"Hmm!" Tessai strained to hold his Bakuda in place.

"Preparing rescue operation." Ururu said as she put on her protective equipment.

"Wait!" Mr. Urahara said. Ururu looked at him puzzled. "Watch him carefully. Usually, the persons soul would explode and regroup, but for some odd reason his order is random. His body hasn't changed, but his mask is forming."

Cloud looked at Ichigo. What kind of power did this kid have?

"Ichigo is resisting the hollowfication. There's still a chance for him to turn into a shinigami. Lets watch and see if he's really becoming… a hollow." He said the last word in a threatening tone.

Cloud watched Ichigo with interest. The boys screams sounded different… They seemed like they had an echo to them. He gritted his teeth, wishing that he could help the boy in some way.

"AAAAAAAAAH!" Ichigo let out another roar.

"Wh-what is this place?" Ichigo sat up and rubbed his hair. He seemed to be sitting on a building- wait, on the side of a building? The world seemed to be turned sideways. He quickly turned around as he sensed someone behind him. The person appeared to be a man, better yet a shinigami. He had long black hair, and a morning shave. His left eye was shut, and he was awkwardly posed on a sword. "Who are you?" he asked the figure. The figure moved his mouth as to speak, but no words came out.

The man continued moving his lips. Ichigo looked at him puzzled. Suddenly his voice came through. "And I thought that no one in this world knew me better than you…" He stated.

"What are you talking about? I don't know anyone as gloomy as you," Ichigo stated. The man then started walking down the side of his sword. "H-how'd you do that?" Ichigo asked astonished.

"I'm so surprised," he said. "How can you sit in a place like that?"

Ichigo suddenly started falling. What was up with the gravity? "AHHH!" he yelled

"That's amazing that you can still yell. But remember, Shinigami's control death. Controlling most of the souls." He said.

"B-but I'm not a Shinigami right now!" Ichigo yelled as he continued falling to his death.

"If you can control the spirits floating around you, you can Stop yourself in midair." Ichigo looked at him puzzled. "Can you hear me? There must have been a time when you stopped in the air unknowingly?"

Ichigo thought back to his fight with the Renji guy. He remembered sliding through the air and coming to a halt.

"Try and feel it! The only way to beat Kuchika Byakuya's "Sword of Shinigami is to use the "Power of Shinigami" attained from Rukia!"

"What?" Ichigo was confused by this man.

"He only aimed for that when he attacked you. He figured that if he took that from you, you would pose no threat. He was being reckless! He didn't see that you have your own "Powers of Shinigami!"

Ichigo was shocked by this. "My own… powers…?"

"That's right. You've had your own, it was awakened by Rukia's powers. It was hidden in you soul. Come, find it!" as the man said that, everything around them started to crumble. "The only way to awaken your power is to find it while this world decays. Out of all of these boxes falling, one contains your power. Find it!" he demanded.

"You're talking nonsense!" Ichigo yelled as he panicked. He barely dodged a giant wall that fell close to him. "There's no way-"

"Stop making excuses! You don't have much time! If you don't find it before this world decays completely, then you will become a Hollow!"

Ichigo was stunned. His muscles tightened up in fear. He was determined however to find it. No matter how stupid it sounded, he would find it!

Ichigo then crashed o=into something that felt like water. He sunk to the bottom. His mind wandered everywhere. _This shouldn't be too difficult, Ishida said that he always had an affinity to spiritual things. Wait! What did Ishida say? Yes! The color of Shinigami's Reiraku is red! Reiraku is visible spiritual power!_

Ichigo scanned around him. He saw what appeared to be a red flag. "This one!" he yelled as he yanked at it. The other boxes vanished as this one opened. On the inside was Soul Cutters hilt.

"Really… You actually found it…" the man appeared and said. "Now I can tell you my name. My name is…"

"You… you can't be…" Ichigo suddenly had the feeling that he knew the man. Suddenly the collapsing quickened of the world.

"Hurry and pull me out!" the man yelled. Ichigo yanked the sword. "Pull Ichigo!" he yelled desperately.

"I can't get it out!" Ichigo cried back.

"What?" The red haired kid said. The group jumped back as spiritual energy exploded out of the hole.

The restraints on Ichigo's arms started to break.

"It's time for eliminate mode!" Tessai yelled. "Bakuduo No Tsukumo Dainiban Manjikin!" A large wave flew from him. "First Song!" he yelled as it wrapped around Ichigo's body. "Second Song!" It then enveloped his face.

"Tessai, what are you doing?" the red haired kid yelled. "Won't that kill him?"

"Kill him?" Cloud got tensed and prepared to jump down and fight the man.

"That can't be avoided! I must destroy him before he becomes a Hollow!"

"The hell you won't!" Cloud jumped down and prepared a punch on the older man.

"Final Song, Manjikinfutoshifu!" he yelled. A large shape appeared above the wave that was wrapped around Ichigo.

"Bastard!" Cloud swiftly ran under the shape and grabbed Ichigo. A massive sword appeared in his hands and he halted the falling of the block.

"What are you doing?" Tessai asked. "It's all over now!" he said as the wrapping on Ichigo let loose. Mr. Urahara grabbed the two children and swiftly moved them a safe distance away. Suddenly, the block exploded. Out of the explosion flew two figures. They both landed in the same area. Cloud back flipped out the smokes way and held up his weapon, prepared to face the Hollow, or whatever you call it.

"Hey Orange hair… Is that you?" Mr. Urahara asked. As the smoke cleared, there stood Ichigo in a wavy black robe, the same kind that he wore when Cloud first met him. He wore a skeleton mask, however.

"Is he a Hollow, or a Shinigami?" Red head asked. Cloud gripped his sword tighter. Ichigo then raised his sword( which was only the hilt), and cracked the mask. He then fully pulled it off. Every one let out a sigh of relief, and Cloud lowered his sword. Mr. Urahara then started clapping.

"Congratulations. You have passed the second test!" Mr. Urahara asked.

"Shutup!" Ichigo hit him in the face with the hilt of the sword. "I made a vow that if I ever left that hole, I would kill you!"

"Well that's good. Straight to the third test. If you can put a single cut on my hat, you pass!" Ichigo swung his sword with just enough intensity that a small wave came out and grazed the hat. "Wow. With a broken sword and you cut it. You pass!"

"Oh but when I get serious, there's no limit to my power! In five minutes I can finish you off!"

Mr. Urahara smirked. "Is that so? Then I'll give you five minutes." He picked up his cane. He gripped the handle and pulled, revealing a fine thin blade. "You can try to finish me off."


	7. Chapter 6: Mentally Unstable

I don't own Bleach or Cloud. Honestly, I don't even own the plot. Hope ya'll enjoy.

Cloud watched as the two men fought viciously, one trying his hardest to kill the other. He enjoyed the fight, the younger mans speed and power was increased ten-fold. The kid was more determined than Cloud was to become a Soldier.

Cloud suddenly began thinking about his home. He thought about Tifa and how she was always smiling. He then thought about his latest employer, Barret. That bastard owed him money! Just because he's in a different dimension didn't mean that he'd let the man slide with pay! Cloud watched Mr. Urahara dodge an array of slashes. He was nimble, maybe more nimble than Sephiroth.

Sephiroth. Cloud's shining eyes became filled with fire. He thought about that murderous man and how he slaughtered his home town. Cloud wanted to do nothing more than kill that man.

"Then kill me." Cloud's eyes shot open with fear. He slowly turned around. What he saw shocked him. There stood Sephiroth, in all of his notorious glory. "Kill me. If that is your will, do it." Cloud stood up and gripped his sword. He gritted his teeth at the silver haired murderer. Cloud ran and tried to slice him. Sephiroth disappeared.

"You always were weak." Cloud was filled with fear. He turned and saw Sephiroth staring at him. He held a bland expression on his face. Cloud ran at him again and swung his massive sword. Sephiroth stepped to the side. Cloud stumbled forward, resulting in a dry laugh from Sephiroth. Cloud jumped up and kept swinging at the man, who effortlessly dodged every attack.

"Stop playing with me!" Cloud yelled. His temper flared as he continued to slice.

"Is a toy not meant to be played with?" Sephiroth said. Cloud was getting angrier by the second. His pace picked up. He was trying his hardest to destroy this man, this so called entity. "Draw your weapon and fight me!"

Sephiroth smirked. When Cloud swung at him, he didn't try to dodge it. His blade appeared in his hand and he stopped the opposing blade. Cloud was straining to push Sephiroth back, but the man looked calm. There was no strain from his end. This fueled Clouds anger.

"This grows tiring." In one swift movement, Sephiroth swiped Clouds blade out of his hand. He then twirled around and impaled Cloud up to the hilt. "Fighting me is futile. Death is inevitable." He pulled out his sword. Cloud collapsed into the dirt. He looked up and saw the silver haired man slowly fade away. "Death is inevitable." He repeated as Cloud lost consciousness.

Clouds eyes fluttered open. He grimaced as the bright light hurt him. He looked recognized the room, this was Mr. Uraharas room. He wondered how he got there. He then remembered his fight with Sephiroth. He swiftly sat up and looked at his chest. He saw no bandages, or not even a scar. They must have some really powerful medicine in this dimension.

"You're up." Cloud turned and saw Mr. Urahara standing at the door. In his hand was a cup, it smelt like it was tea.

"Where's Sephiroth?" Cloud demanded.

"Who the hell is that?" he responded as he took a sip of his cup.

"The man with the silver hair. Long black cape. Longer sword. The one that I was fighting!"

"I have no idea who your talking about. Maybe you were hallucinating. I mean you were slicing the air, and trash talking it as well. I think your losing your marbles man." He took a long sip of his tea as Cloud stared at the ground in disbelief. Was he going crazy? "But… I do think something is going on." Cloud shot him a look. "You aren't the only new energy I sense. There's one that's similar to yours… just much more ominous, and it's hard to trace. It pops up, then disappears. It's also very powerful, maybe the strongest I've ever felt."

Cloud clenched his fist. "Where is he? I have to stop him before he kills more people!"

"Are you deaf? It's nearly impossible to trace him. I think he's sitting somewhere building power. Honestly, you need to the same. Even though you have your sword, you can't beat him yet. Oh, and by the way, Congratulations on that."

Cloud stood up. He held out his arm and his massive sword appeared. It looked like his old blade, except this one was pure black. It was eerie in a way. Cloud was absorbed into the sword, he felt like he wanted to talk to it. "Where is it coming from?" he wondered.

"Honestly, we don't know. It sort of just appears to people with an immeasurable amount of spiritual energy." Cloud swung the sword. It felt much better than his previous blade. It was lighter, yet more destructive. It dissolved back into the air. "Listen, me and you will train individually. Ichigo is exhausted after our sessions. We leave for the rescue mission in a week. In your current condition you'd be a liability. Be up at three a.m."

Cloud nodded his head. As Mr. Urahara left the room he looked at the clock. It was 2:56 a.m. That damned Urahara…

A/N: Ok… I'm back in school so this story will be coming at you quickly. This chapter was short and rather uneventful. I'm not going to go into detail about the training session, the next chapter will go straight into the Soul Society. Alright…


	8. Chapter 7

Land of Fire, Big Field

Tifa stood in the middle of a field with her new sensei ahead of her. She kept on her same attire, which displeased Itachi. Itachi stared at the girl very carefully. She looked him in his eyes. After a five minute silent stare, Tifa was agitated.

"Listen Itachi, I don't think staring at each other will help us out any!" Tifa yelled, obviously annoyed. Itachi stayed silent. Tifa looked the skinny man with disinterest. She turned and started to walk away. Itachi suddenly appeared in front of her, causing her to scream and swing a punch, which he effortlessly caught. "The hell was that?" she demanded.

Itachi handed Tifa a sheet of paper. "Charge your chakra into this."

Tifa looked at Itachi confused. "Chakra?" she asked. "What's that?"

Itachi face palmed himself. _"You can't be serious"_ he said to himself. He turned his back to Tifa. He went through a series of hand signs. " Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!" A large ball of fire appeared out of Itachi's mouth and consumed part of the forest. Tifa stood in disbelief. She never saw a fireball that large! Itachi turned back towards her. "That technique took the use of chakra."

"Well I can do this!" Tifa turned the opposite direction of Itachi. She held out her hand. Her palm glew red. "Fire!" Itachi's eyes grew wide as he saw three balls of fire sprout from her palm. He quickly approached her and grabbed her wrist. She tried to pull away, but he was too strong.

"How did you do that?" Itachi asked with interest.

"Let go of me you freak!" Tifa kicked at Itachi as she screeched, but he just simply burst into crows and then grabbed her again.. He finally realized that he was holding her and he swiftly let go. Tifa rubbed her wrist and glared at Itachi. Itachi nervously looked at the ground and his bright red eyes

"I'm sorry." Tifa saw the look in Itachi's eyes, and knew he meant it.

"I'll let it pass this time, but next time I won't be so nice." Tifa said. She then held up her hand. Itachi noticed that there was a small gem in it. "I use this to use magic. It's called materia, and this is a very basic form of it, one of the weakest actually."

Itachi stared at it sternly, however in his head he was interested. " Now onto training." Tifa jumped at his sudden change, and his slight raised voice. "Chakra is the process of molding physical energy and spiritual energy. Physical energy is all throughout your body, where spiritual energy comes from your exercise, and your experience with the technique." Itachi noticed that Tifa was staring deeply into his eyes. He shut them as he continued. "Your body has 361 chakra points. Chakra is needed to create Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, doujtsu, summoning, and more..." Itachi looked at Tifa and saw her looking puzzled. He then closed his eyes again shook his head, "It'll be better to just teach you." Itachi walked up to Tifa and lightly put his hand on her forehead. He looked down into her beautiful eye's, and his sharp sight caught the light blush her face held. "Hold this leaf onto your head."

Tifa smiled. "That's easy." she said.

"Without your hands."

Tifa's jaw dropped. "How do you expect me to do that?" she exclaimed.

"With chakra." he said. Itachi turned his back to her. "Be finished by the time I return." Itachi said. "My eye's are on you..." Itachi burst into a flock of crows. They all flew away except one. Tifa noticed that it had the same eyes as him. This made her shudder. She then smiled.

"If I can master this, then I can protect everyone. No one would have to be like…. Cloud…" she got sad immediately. After a few seconds she toughened up. "I'm going to get this!" she picked up a leaf off the ground. She held it to her head. Tifa closed her eyes and concentrated. She sat silently as she held the leaf. She then released it. Tifa held her position and kept concentrating. She opened her eyes and saw the leaf slowly falling to the ground. "This is going to be harder than I thought" she mumbled as she grasped another leaf.

Unknown to her, there was a figure standing a distance away, watching her every move. Itachi appeared near the figure.

"Is this your new girlfriend? It's about time I see you with a girl, I was starting to question your interests." Kisame smirked as he continued watching the girl.

"She has potential. I'm just here to bring it all out of her." Itachi said. He turned to walk away.

"Hey Itachi." Itachi stopped walking, but didn't turn around.

"Yes?" he asked, more in a demanding voice.

Kisame looked back at his partner. "Is she… like you?" he asked silently, which caused Itachi to flinch slightly.

"…no." Itachi replied as he faded into a flock of crows.

"Humph, arrogant as always." Kisame said. He looked back at the girl, constantly failing to hold the leaf on her forehead. "She must be pretty talented if she caught his eye…" Kisame smiled . "I hope I live long enough to see her in action."

*Two hours later*

Tifa sat in the field, exhausted. Using magic never drained her as much as this did. She wanted to give up, but she needed strength. Seeing the power of Itachi interested her. He could create fire without materia! If Tifa could learn these attacks, she would be much stronger. She could easily protect those that she loved. She thought of Barrett, Marlene, Biggs and Wedge. She then thought of Cloud.

Cloud was Tifa's best friend, ever since they were children. While exploring a mountain as children, Tifa hurt herself and went into a coma. When she awoke, she saw that Cloud acted strange around her. She remembered sitting on the playground, when a hot-headed Cloud vowed to protect her.

Now, he was dead.

Tifa refused to let the tears fall. She held her eyes close and kept thinking about Cloud. She thought about his beautiful blonde hair, their only kiss (when they were kids, of course), and even when a young Cloud was beat up by some thugs that tried raping her. She was getting emotional as she thought of these times.

"Impressive." Tifa's eyes shot open. She saw that Itachi was standing in front of her.

"Don't do that!" she said. "It's scary!"

"You have the leaf on your head." Itachi said, ignoring her remarks. Tifa reached for her scalp and felt the leaf there just hanging. She smiled triumphantly.

"I did it!" she said, putting up a piece sign. The leaf slowly fell down to the earth. Itachi stared at her in amusement. "What's next?"

"Here." Itachi handed her the same sheet of paper from earlier in the day. "Channel chakra into here."

"I don't really understand how to do this, but I will try." Tifa held the paper in one hand and focused on it. She felt weird doing this, especially with Itachi just staring at her. She focused for minutes, but to no avail.

Itachi just silently stared. _"This would be much simpler if she were a fire nature user."_

Tifa was staring at the paper and tried her hardest to channel this thing called chakra. Tifa focused and focused. She felt a tingle going through her core. She watched in amazement as the paper in her hand started shaking. The paper slowly started to tear down the middle. Itachi silently stared.

"Haaa!" Tifa sent all of the energy she felt into the paper. The paper split into two, and then burst into flames. Tifa let out a yelp as the paper slightly burned her hand. Itachi smirked.

"_This is going to get interesting." _he said.

Tifa fell onto her knee's breathing heavily. Using magic wasn't nearly this exhausting. She looked at Itachi. "So…. Was… that… enough?" she panted out.

Itachi turned to walk away. "Rest well. Tomorrow begins your training. I will not hold back." He said. As Tifa opened her mouth to speak, she saw Itachi disappear.

"Man…" she said as she laid on the grass. "I hope he was kidding about not holding back." Tifa said as she quickly fell asleep from fatigue.

A/N: Hello I'm not finished with this story yet! I'll admit that I have been slacking off, but I'm back. Please continue to R&R.


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